<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>He greeted Death as an Old Friend by Officially_Ravenclaw</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27464887">He greeted Death as an Old Friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Officially_Ravenclaw/pseuds/Officially_Ravenclaw'>Officially_Ravenclaw</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Stephen Strange &amp; Wong Friendship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:09:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>633</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27464887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Officially_Ravenclaw/pseuds/Officially_Ravenclaw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So... Stephen dies. Sorry:| (not rlly)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Stephen Strange &amp; Wong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>He greeted Death as an Old Friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title from 'The tale of the three brothers' -- Beedle the Bard</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>          He was preventing the water from drowning them (like it drowned Donna in a lake in Nebraska). He could’ve put up a wall. But—  </p><p>          Stephen Strange knows what will happen next. As Col. Danvers attempts to wrestle the gauntlet from Thanos, Tony Stark will look at him. Stephen will raise a finger, sending a great man to his death as he had seen in the One.</p><p>           (He has a Plan.)</p><p>           Currently, Thanos headbutts Captain Marvel. She doesn’t move (an Infinity Stone solves that problem). Stark—Tony—looks at him. He raises a finger. Realization dawns in those hazel eyes. Then resignation mingled with a steely resolve that earned him Stephen’s respect. </p><p>            (The Plan depends on the element of surprise.)</p><p>            Stark—Tony —distracts the Titan and gets his hands on the Stones.</p><p>            <em>(Now.)</em></p><p>            Stephen puts up the wall.</p><p>            (“I am inevitable.”)</p><p>            Snap! (More of a click, actually.)</p><p>            Stephen dives and somehow gets his hands on the Stones from Stark.</p><p>           “Strange—what the <em>hell</em> are you doing!?”</p><p>           “Saving your life, douchebag.”</p><p>           Wink, and then snap!</p><p>           He hears two “Strange—NO!” before he goes under.</p><p>                             ************</p><p>           When he comes to, all he sees is yellow (like the sun when it is high in the sky; like <em>Soul</em>).</p><p>          “Did we win?”</p><p>           He brings his focus on two of the most fiercest and deadliest women in the galaxy—maybe the entire universe.</p><p>          “Yes.”</p><p>          “Can we go?”</p><p>          In answer, he musters all the energy he can reach into his body and creates a portal that breaches the fabric of Soul and the Physical Plane. With a cheeky smile, he says, “If you please…”</p><p>          They smiled back and passed through with a “Thank you”, each.</p><p>                              ************</p><p>          The first thing he felt was pain; fiery and agonizing.</p><p>           <em>(“Pain’s an old friend.”)</em></p><p>           He was back in his body, which was wrapped tightly by the Cloak. “Hello, old friend.” His voice was raspy.</p><p>          The Cloak started stroking his cheeks gently.</p><p>           “Why would you do that, you utter idiot!?”</p><p>           Oh, yeah. Wong is kneeling in front of him trying to stop the energies of the Stone from overwhelming him.</p><p>           “Wong. As-Astral.”</p><p>            Wong looked at him. With a sigh, he says, “Alright.”</p><p>                           ************</p><p>            As a mystical relic with sentience, the Cloak could Astral project too (it was still wrapped around him. Tightly).</p><p>           “C’mon Cloak. You’ll be alright.”</p><p>            It still didn’t let go.</p><p>           With the Cloak holding him tightly, he observed the battleground. It looked like Wong’s and his physical forms were inside a protective shield that was holding the Avengers—especially Tony—back. Stephen chose not to comment on it. </p><p>           "<em>Ahem."</em></p><p>            Right. Wong.</p><p>           “Explain, Stephen.”</p><p>           “I had to, Wong. He doesn’t deserve it. <em>They</em> don’t deserve it.”</p><p>           “Neither do you, Stephen”, says Wong, in a pleading voice.</p><p>           “Maybe not, old friend. But better me than them.”</p><p>           “And me? Do I deserve losing my brother?”</p><p>            Stephen is shocked. <em>Brother?</em> He knew he was a close friend but <em>brother?</em></p><p>            “Brother?” He choked out.</p><p>           “Don’t look so shocked, Stephen. Of course you’re my brother. At least you will die knowing that.”</p><p>            He flinched. “I am so sorry, Wong. I just want you to know that… tell you that—that I—”</p><p>            A hand fell on his shoulder. “We know, Stephen.  We know.”</p><p>            With tears shining in their eyes, the brothers, along with the Cloak, embraced each other.</p><p>            “We’ll be fine.” Someday.</p><p>            “I’ll miss the both of you. Sorely.”</p><p>            The Cloak and the brother tightened their grip.</p><p>              He will miss them—his mentor and best friend and the relic that stuck with him through everything. Even Death.</p><p>              “Time’s running out, Stephen.”</p><p>               Time. It’s always Time.</p><p>               “Goodbye, Wong.”</p><p>                             ************</p><p>              “Goodbye, Stephen Strange. You will be missed.”</p><p>              And before he took his last breath, Doctor Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension, felt the ghost of a kiss on the crown of his head.<br/>
                                                                                         <br/>
<em>Finis</em></p><p> <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
 </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Right, so. Stephen could breach the fabric between Soul and his own dimension coz canonically he is the very powerful even when weakened considerably. As he was already very weak from using the Stones, saving Nat and Gamora made him weak to the point of Death. Sorry I couldn't save Loki and Vision too. :(  The convo between Stephen and Wong was inspired by the scene between Stephen and TAO in the Doc Strange movie.<br/>Hope you enjoyed it!! Comment or kudos if you have time! 😇</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>